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Alien Slapstick Comedy

It is a well-known fact that things unseen are the most effective imagination teasers. That's how it works. In this clip from the recent episode of the "Robot Chicken" we can see what happened behind the closed doors during the climax of James Cameron's 1986 classic "Aliens".

The episode elaborates on a scene where Ripley and Hicks are trying to break through the hordes of aliens during the climax of the movie. As you know, once they get into the elevator - alien drone blocks the door and tries to get inside but Hicks shoots him and get injured by the alien's acid blood. That's what we see in the film. This episode explores fate of the alien drone. And it is a bit slapstick.

Since xenomorph's blood is acidic - this creates a problem for an injured creature. Instead of just retreating anywhere - its blood burns through the floor and the creature falls level down. Over and over again. It tries to avoid another fall by jumping on the box but it backfires and so xenomorph falls down and meets the box. Then, on another level, it tries to run away from the hole but instead alien gets a prolong falling session down to the depths of Hadley's Hope.

It turns out that underneath the Hadley's Hope was a xenomorph city. Because of course it was there all along. With the buildings, streetlights and sidewalks and other xenomorphs walking leisurely casually dressed. An unfortunate alien falls down and gets splashed on the ground. The passerby sees that and calls an ambulance. Xenomorph's body is taken away but since the blood is acidic - it damages an ambulance car and causes one final accident.

Moral of the story - don't spill acid blood when you bleed.


How Mass Dampers Stop Structures from Shaking

(YouTube link)

Being atop a skyscraper when it sways is disconcerting, but not as terrifying as that sway would be if it weren't for mass dampers. This simple but thorough explanation of how they work from Minute Physics uses a LEGO Saturn 5 rocket, or two of them, to show how it works. The video is really only 3:40 long; after that, it's an ad. -via Geeks Are Sexy


The (Mostly) True Story of Hobo Graffiti

(YouTube link)

Hobos have been around since the railroad system made traveling across America possible. Itinerant workers rode the rails to where jobs were available, as best they could. Their numbers grew when unemployment did, and they developed a system leave messages for each other. Or did they? Historians know that the "hobo code" we've all read about is not what we've been told before. -via Kottke


Crowbox: Build Your Own Crow Vending Machine

(YouTube link)

Last year, we posted about a plan to train crows to pick up litter, specifically, cigarette butts. Here's a way that can happen. The Crowbox is a vending machine for crows. It's set up in stages, to train birds how to use it, and crows are pretty smart and learn quickly. This demonstration video uses quarters, but there's no reason you can't use cigarette butts or something else that crows can easily find. If you'd like to make your own Crowbox, the plans and instructions are here. -via Metafilter  


Strandbeest Evolution 2018

(YouTube link)

Dutch engineer/artist Theo Jansen is known for his Strandbeests, giant kinetic sculptures that move along the beach on their own, powered only by the wind. We posted quite a few of them over the years. Over time, the Strandbeests have evolved to be bigger, lighter, and faster. They seem to be living beings, although they are made of PVC pipe, string, and zip ties. Check out this video showing off his latest, most kinetic Strandbeests. At the very end, you see Jansen with his Animaris Rhinoceros Transport from 2006, just to show how far his art has come. -via Geekologie


The Return of Jean-Luc Picard

Sir Patrick Stewart made a surprise appearance at a Star Trek convention in Las Vegas earlier today, and mentioned that he will once again play the role of Jean-Luc Picard in a new Star Trek series to be shown on CBS All Access, the streaming service that already hosts the show Star Trek: Discovery. Stewart also released a statement on Twitter.

Stewart hasn't played Picard on a Star Trek TV series since The Next Generation ended in 2002, but he has appeared in four Star Trek feature films. We don't know anything else about the new series, or when it will air. -via Uproxx 

Make it so!


Pusic and the Treadmill

(YouTube link)

Pusic, Russia's most spoiled cat (previously at Neatorama), is fascinated with the new treadmill. He learns how to use it in only six days! It's an accomplishment, alright, but since he's conquered the learning process, he can go on to other things. The hooman can practice every day until he gets it right.   


Newborn Goat Meets Barn Kittens

(YouTube link)

Kittens are cute, baby goats are cute, and this video has both! Hector is a newborn Nigerian dwarf goat at Sunflower Farm Creamery (previously at Neatorama). He was a single birth, and the first of the season, so there are no other kids for him to play with yet. But there is a litter of barn kittens! Hector wants to make friends, and even learned to climb up on a bale of wood shavings to join them. He'll have plenty of company soon -the farm has a live webcam set up to catch more goat births. -via Tastefully Offensive


Trippy Roller Coaster Ride

(YouTube link)

Jeb Corliss used a GoPro 360° Fusion Camera to record a roller coaster ride at Magic Mountain. That means you won't be able to see the coaster itself as it appears to the rider, or anyone else. The POV is his hand! He stabilized the footage, and the finished product is a weird, almost psychedelic ride that you'd expect from a cartoon. Cosmic! -via Geeks Are Sexy


Cat Freaks out When Owner Disappears

(YouTube link)

The disappearing trick blew this cat's mind. She's not going to give up until she finds out where that hooman went! At first, you assume that the cat is trying to figure out the illusion, but after she keeps it up, you think maybe she's genuinely worried about his absence. Meanwhile, these dogs don't care at all. -via Laughing Squid


All Cats Go to Heaven

(YouTube link)

Bruce and Terry Jenkins have led an interesting life. Now that they are retired, they spend their time running a private shelter called Cat's Cradle. They have 30 cats, all of them rescues, elderly cats who have outlived their original owner. They get to spend their sunset years being loved and fussed over by the Jenkins. They are awesome people. Stay for the credits, where we get to see the finished butterfly garden. -via The Atlantic


Pirate-Themed CT Scanner in a Children's Hospital

(Photo: Macey J. Foronda/Buzzfeed)

It might almost make a kid want to go to the hospital! The New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital redesigned its CT scanning room, adding pirates:

“There aren’t scary pirates — there’s a pussycat pirate and one that looks like Curious George,” says Dr. Carrie Ruzal-Shapiro, chief of Pediatric Radiology. “The parents have been really positive too. It makes it less scarier for the kids.”

On average, New York-Presbyterian has about 200 inpatients per day, treating about 150 kids each day in the pediatric emergency room. And every day kids ranging from newborn to age 21 come in for CT scan for ailments from neonatal abnormalities to abdominal pain to head trauma. “Our more adult patients ages 17 to 21 ask for the pirate scanner, too,” Ruzal-Shapiro says.

You can see several more photos at the link.

Link -via Fubiz


Disagreeing with Bill Watterson in the Style of Calvin and Hobbes

The artist Bill Watterson is most famous for his comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. In 1990, he gave a speech at Kenyon College about the ideals of an artist. Gavin Aung Than illustrated a portion of it, which went viral through the internet this week. You can read it here.

They were nice words and Mr. Than illustrated them very well, but the entire piece struck me as more than a little self-righteous. David Willis, the artist behind Shortpacked, apparently agreed. This is his delicious rebuttal.

Link -via 22 Words


A Professional Artist Collaborates with Her 4-Year Old Daughter

One day, Mica Angela Hendricks, a professional illustrator, bought a new sketchbook. Her 4-year old daughter liked it and added her own contributions. Soon the two were working together, each, Ms. Hendricks insists, adding essential elements: 

Sometimes I would give her suggestions, like “maybe she could have a dragon body!”  but usually she would ignore theses suggestions if it didn’t fit in with what she already had in mind.  But since I am a grownup and a little bit (okay a lot) of a perfectionist, I sometimes would have a specific idea in mind as I doodled my heads.  Maybe she could make this into a bug!  I’d think happily to myself as I sketched, imagining the possibilities of what it could look like.  So later, when she’d doodle some crazy shape that seemed to go in some surrealistic direction, or put a large circle around the creature and filled the WHOLE THING in with marker, part of my brain would think, What is she DOING?!?  She’s just scribbling it all up!  But I should know that in most instances, kids’ imaginations way outweigh a grownup’s, and it always ALWAYS looked better that what I had imagined.  ALWAYS.

Link -via Althouse


Bicycle Powered Tree House Elevator

(YouTube link)

Ethan Schlussler has a treehouse 30 feet up. To get to it, he constructed an elevator out of a bicycle and a pulley system. Sweet! -via Tastefully Offensive 


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